A rich maple rye brownie cake topped with a whipped chocolate cream cheese frosting and fresh tart blackberries makes for an exceptionally delicious treat!
One of my favorite times of the year is the transition between summer and fall. I feel like I am getting the best of both worlds were the weather is cool enough to start the morning with a warm and cozy drink but still warm enough that I can enjoy being outdoors without freezing. During this time, I love combining the flavors and produce from both seasons in my recipes. For this brownie cake, I paired maple syrup, an ingredient classically used in fall bakes with fresh blackberries, a late summer fruit that is mostly tart in flavor with slightly sweet undertones. I knew the sweetness of the maple syrup would offset the tartness of the blackberries to create the perfect marriage between sweet and tart. To elevate the flavor of this cake even further, I went with dark rye instead of all-purpose flour mainly because I love the hearty, earthy flavor of rye flour and knew it would offer a unique twist.
How to Make Maple Rye Brownie Cake
Key Ingredients
- Flour- dark rye flour replaces all-purpose flour to add a rich, heartier component to cake
- Fats- both butter and oil are used were the butter adds enriched flavor and the oil provides and maintains moisture in the finished bake
- Sweeteners- two types of sweeteners, raw cane sugar and pure maple syrup, are used; here, the maple syrup adds phenomenal flavor to the cake that compliment the complexity of the rye flour and robustness of the cocoa powder
- Chocolate- Dutch-processed cocoa powder is used in placed of melting chocolate because I find brownies made with cocoa powder have a more profound chocolate flavor compared to brownies made with just melting chocolate
Maple Rye Brownie Cake
This brownie cake consist of two components– the cake and the frosting– both comes together rather quickly without much fuss. Starting with the brownie batter, add all the dry ingredients except the sugar into a mixing bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside. Next, the fats, butter and oil are added into the bowl of a double-boiler and warmed until the butter is melted. While it is still warm, whisk sugar into butter-oil mixture until a thick and glossy, syrup like consistency is reached. You want to make sure that all the sugar is incorporated into the warm butter-oil mixture. Next, the eggs are whisked into the batter one at a time followed by the maple syrup and vanilla extract. At this point, the dry ingredients should be mixed in just until the brownie batter comes together without any streaks of flour.
Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Like the brownie batter, the whipped chocolate cream cheese frosting takes very little time to make and only requires (5) ingredients- heavy cream, cream cheese, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. An essential step not to skip is to start with a chilled bowl. I would suggest placing a mixing bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before making frosting. This will help the frosting to come together faster.
First, place a mixing bowl in the freezer. In a separate bowl, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract until smooth. Set bowl aside. Retrieve chilled bowl from freezer and pour in cold heavy cream. Whisk cream just until it starts to thicken, then stop and add cream cheese mixture into semi-whipped cream. Proceed with whisking the mixture until frosting forms stiff but spreadable peaks. Take care not to over mix.
Helpful Tips
- If you do not own a double boiler, one can be made by placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with lightly simmering water. Just ensure that the water do not touch the base of the bowl. Alternatively, the butter and oil can be placed in a microwave safe bowl and warmed up in 30 second intervals until all the butter is melted.
- If not using right away, frosting should be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until ready to use.
- To ensure a moist and slightly fudgy brownie cake, take care not to over bake the cake. You want a few moist crumbs to be on the toothpick when checking cake for doneness. If your oven runs hot, check on the cake at the 30-minute mark of bake time.
Maple Rye Brownie Cake
A rich maple rye brownie cake topped with a whipped chocolate cream cheese frosting and fresh tart blackberries makes for an exceptionally delicious treat!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 Slices
Ingredients
Maple Rye Brownie Cake
• 3/4 Cup Dark Rye Flour
• 3/4 Cup Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
• 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
• 1 Cup Raw Cane/Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 3 Tablespoon Flavorless Oil i.e. Grapeseed/Avocado Oil
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream, Cold
• 2 Ounces Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
• 2 -3 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar, Depending on Sweet Preference
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Fresh Blackberries, about 20, For Top of Cake
• Fresh Mint, Garnish, Optional
Instructions
Maple Rye Brownie Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and line an 8” baking pan with parchment paper. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients except the sugar and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of a double boiler, add the butter and oil and heat up until all the butter is melted.
Whisk sugar into warm butter-oil mixture until a thick, glossy syrup-like consistency is achieved. - One at a time, whisk eggs into the wet batter followed by the maple syrup and vanilla extract.
- Mix dry ingredients into wet batter just until the brownie batter comes together without any streaks of flour. Take care not to over mix batter.
- Pour brownie batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. Brownie cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow cake to rest in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cake should be completely cooled (at least 1 hour) before frosting.
Whipped Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place a mixing bowl into the freezer to chill. In a small bowl, add and whisk together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Retrieve chilled bowl from freezer and add in the cold heavy cream. With a hand-held mixer or whisk, beat the heavy cream just until it starts to thicken and before soft peaks are formed. Stop and spoon in the cream cheese mixture. Continue to beat cream until stiff but spreadable peaks is achieved.
Assembly
- Spoon frosting onto the surface of cooled brownie cake. With an offset spatula, spread the frosting until the top of the cake is completely covered.
- Arrange blackberries and mint (if using) along the outer rim of the cake.
Berry Black
Absolutely beautiful! Delicious recipe that I will definitely be making again. I put blackberries in the batter and doubled the mixture to freeze half of it, icing on, worked a charm!
nourished endeavors
I am so happy to hear that you liked this recipe! The chocolate and blackberries works so nicely together.